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Some familiar faces surround Kennedy Stewart’s mayoralty

Vancouver mayor's office will have close ties to provincial NDP
Newly minted Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart would be wise to start thinking locally rather than glo
Newly minted Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart would be wise to start thinking locally rather than globally, says columnist Mike Klassen. Photo Jennifer Gauthier

This week, the fresh faces of a new Vancouver city council stood before family, friends and political supporters in a gymnasium at Creekside Community Centre as they were sworn into office. Former NDP MP Libby Davies led the ceremony, advising the incoming councillors to play nice and eschew partisan politics.

In a nutshell, it was her “Can’t we all just get along?” moment.

Davies, a former Vancouver city councillor, was joined in the audience by NDP MP and former COPE city councillor Jenny Kwan, as well as retired NDP MP Svend Robinson and former NDP premier and independent Vancouver mayor Mike Harcourt.

Union leaders such as MoveUp president David Black were also there to celebrate the new council — and, in particular, the Vancouver District Labour Council’s hand-picked candidate for mayor, Kennedy Stewart.

The ceremony closed with Stewart reading his first speech as Vancouver’s newly minted mayor.

For someone who had just been handed the city’s chain of office, Stewart’s speech was surprisingly devoid of any mention of Vancouver at all. One might attribute this to his serving as a Member of Parliament in Burnaby, but I think it was more deliberate.

Stewart, like Davies before him, directed part of his message to the majority NPA and Green councillors on his council. He opened by thanking the other mayoral candidates for staying away from “divisive politics” like we are seeing around the world.

He promised “respect” for his fellow councilmates and for citizens. As well, he aspires to lead a city government based upon openness, transparency and a “willingness” to build trust.

If there were values that were absent during Vision Vancouver’s time in office, it would include those three.

In addition to channeling a conciliatory message to these councillors — who can make or break his own civic agenda — Stewart repeated at least six times to lead as a “globalist” mayor.

Vancouver, said Stewart, should become a “true world city.”

You could say that we have had our fill of “global” politics in Vancouver. With its perennial battle over the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion under Mayor Gregor Robertson, the city was continuously on the front lines of a global battle for energy supremacy.

Stewart is a key opponent of that project, even allowing himself to be arrested earlier this year at a Kinder Morgan protest.

One could argue Vancouver might want to step back off the global stage for a while — if only to get its house in order. The issues of housing affordability, transportation or strengthening municipal services take precedence for the majority of residents here.

I only recently became aware how volatile the term globalist has become. It is widely used a pejorative among far-right political supporters and xenophobes.

Stewart explained the difference between being “globalized” and globalist, hinting that Vancouver was globalized by foreign capital and outsiders. He said globalized cities are “hostage to global forces” and often “foundering on stormy seas” — which he presumably wants to change here.

He did not say how he would help Vancouver embrace globalism.

What Stewart did reveal that day, however, is who will help him run the mayor’s office — namely Neil Monckton and Anita Zaenker. It is Stewart’s pro-union dream team with close ties to the provincial NDP.

Zaenker comes to the mayor’s office straight from her role as an organizer with the B.C. Federation of Labour. She once reported to George Heyman while working at the B.C. Government Employees Union, before he became an NDP MLA.

Over a decade ago, Zaenker was part of the breakaway “Diet COPE” faction that later formed Vision Vancouver.

Monckton is a longtime ally of Stewart. Both were involved in the now defunct Think City urban policy shop, along with Monckton’s father-in-law SFU, professor Doug McArthur, another former NDP staffer. Georgia Straight’s Charlie Smith predicts McArthur will be an adviser to Stewart.

While running Stewart’s election campaign, Monckton attracted some unwanted media attention by getting caught in a phone recording. He called small business operator and NPA supporter Mike Jagger to badger him into taking down a tweet.

The resulting embarrassment for Stewart’s campaign caused Monckton to delete his Twitter account.

We will soon see if Stewart’s mayoralty is more defined by council’s collegiality, or the aggressive style of his staff member.

@MikeKlassen
mike@mikeklassen.net